Chennai Corporation to give a call out to school alumni

Database to be primarily aimed at streamlining communication

Calendars of several private schools and colleges, customarily, set aside dates for alumni to congregate, search for familiar faces, and for noted alumni to share their experiences. Soon, the Chennai Corporation, too, will reach out to its alumni.

“Each year, around 6,000 students, on an average, graduate from class XII, so we are expecting a good number of past students from all classes to register. We will also be opening online registrations,” said an official.

The official said they had received requests from industries, skill training institutes and other organisations for various opportunities and requirements. “Often, we are not able to communicate with students at large. The effort is to create a comprehensive database of alumni so that we can link them when there are relevant opportunities, training programmes and avenues, and be in touch with them. This will be the immediate use,” the official said.

One of the ideas under consideration is to send out bulk messages, instead of having to contact alumni individually. “Though schools have records, the contact details might have changed,” said the official. Few students, said the official, knew about the four community colleges, for instance.

A headmaster of a Chennai Corporation Higher Secondary School, which is set to complete 25 years, said having an alumni club would streamline communication.

“Now, students come individually on a voluntary basis to address students, and we maintain records and call some of them as well. It is quite motivating when old students, who are now placed well, address students, because they understand where the students come from,” he said, adding that most private schools and colleges have alumni clubs, and will bring in a sense of belonging.

An official noted that when they were in the process of developing a brochure about the schools run by the Corporation, a headmistress spoke about a girl who had scored centums in four subjects and got into a government medical college, and another about a student who works in Royal Bank of Scotland. “There will be many more students who are doing well, and they can come back and address the students,” the official said.